OK, It's a grand title for a post, but this one slipped by everyone's attention last year when in fact it's a great event. Each year at Midem, the European Commission sponsors the Border Breaker Awards. The idea is to salute bands that break outside their own borders. A few of them played one song each last year and the level was very high.

Here's the blurb for the upcoming event:

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Palais des Festivals - Ambassadeurs

Description: Presented by the European Commission.

For the fourth time, the European Border Breakers Awards will reward European artists or bands, and their record companies, authors and publishers, whose debut albums have achieved the highest sales in 2006 across the European Union outside their country of production.

The awards highlight the diversity of European music and the potential of new talents to reach international audiences.

Winners : Corinne Bailey Rae (Good Groove/EMI - UK); Blog 27 (Magic Rec/Kontor - Poland); Celtic Woman (Angel - Ireland); Jos